Wordless Wednessday - Brownie & Lavender Ice Cream for Breakfast

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The Savage Chocolate Beast - Brownie Pudding Cake

Every once in a while, I am gripped by the Chocolate Beast.  There is no calming this terrifying manifestation of hunger. That is, except for Mom's Brownie Pudding Cake.  

It's quite the enigma, really.  From the top, it looks like a dense brownie-esque type chocolate cake, yet hidden underneath the deceptively cakey looking surface, is a raging sea of molten chocolate pudding.  OMG I love this thing!  And while I love Molten Chocolate cakes, I will always have a soft spot for the Pudding cake of my childhood.  Richly chocolatey, decadently moist and literally dripping with warm chocolate pudding sauce...  Yep, the ONLY thing that can stop the Chocolate Beast dead in it's tracks.

The recipe sounds a little odd, but trust me; as strange as it looks, it will be awesome in the end.

Brownie Pudding Cake

 

1 cup AP Flour
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
6 TB natural Cocoa Powder (not Alkalized); divided
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 cup Whole Milk
2 TB Light Olive Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 cups Water

Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees and butter a 8 x 8 x 2 baking dish.
Combine Flour, Granulated Sugar, 3 TB Cocoa Powder, Baking Powder, and Kosher Salt in a bowl, whisking to combine.

Add Milk, Olive Oil and Vanilla extract, then stir with a spatula until a smooth batter forms.

Pour this into your prepared baking dish.

In another small bowl place Brown Sugar and the remaining 3 TB Cocoa Powder; mix with a fork until the cocoa is completely dispersed through the Brown Sugar.

Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the cake batter in an even layer.

You can stop here and refrigerate this part for up to 24 hours, but bring it back to room temperature before continuing.
When ready to bake, gently pour the 2 cups of water over the crumb mixture. (the brown sugar, cocoa and water combine to form the pudding ----  Don't ask me how it exchanges places with the cake batter underneath... It's part of the magic)

Carefully move the pan to the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Allow to cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before serving... You want to serve it warm, but not too warm.
Using a spoon, cut chunks of the brownie cake and move them to a dish, but don't forget to spoon some of the delicious pudding over the top.

Serve with Ice Cream or Whipped Cream... Your choice... 

Ah!  At last....  the Chocolate Beast has been satiated!

Mangia!!
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Extreme Makeover; Black & Tan Edition - Obsidian Brownies (with Malted Gelato)

It's Brownie time, folks!

Not just any brownies though, at least not this time. You see, I ate lunch at the Full Sail Brewery in Hood River last weekend after I went Huckleberry picking up on Sawtooth Ridge near Mt. Adams. (They made the most awesome Reuben I think I have ever had, complete with RUSSIAN dressing instead of that Thousand Island stuff most places use; YUM)

That's beside the point though. I need to focus... Brownies, brownies...

I noticed something on their dessert menu which intrigued me. It was an Imperial Stout Brownie served with Tillamook Vanilla Ice Cream. I resisted at the time, but the idea has been plaguing me. It just sounded REALLY good. Enter in the Facebook comments by friends at ice creameries and, well, you get the picture....

Time for Stout Brownies and Malted Gelato! A "Black & Tan" in a whole new light.

So, I combined my Cocoa Nirvana Brownies with my Guinness chocolate cake, grabbed a bottle of Deschutes Obsidian Stout (Bend, OR) and some Dagoba Chocolate (Ashland, OR) and went for it. Regrettably my brother's homemade oatmeal stout was not available. It was SO good, that we drank it all.... cause it would have been awesome in these brownies. (sigh) Next time for sure.

Obsidian (Stout) Brownies

1 cup (5.1oz) (145 g) AP flour
3/4 cup (2.4 oz) (70 g) unsweetened Dutch-processed Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
4 oz Unsalted Butter
8 oz Bittersweet chocolate, 60%-72% - NO Milk Solids
1/4 cup (2.4 oz) (68 g) Brown Sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup (5.2oz) (150g) Granulated sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
10 oz Obsidian Stout – Deschutes Brewery (Guinness will work too)
1 cup (6 oz) (172 g) Milk Chocolate chips
1/3 cup (2 oz) (57 g) White Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, then line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper or foil (I normally use parchment, but I was out)

In a medium bowl, whisk together Flour, Cocoa Powder, Salt and Cayenne until evenly combined.

Set aside.

Melt Butter, Bittersweet Chocolate, and Brown Sugar in a sauté pan over very low heat, stirring constantly until melted.

Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk the Eggs with the Granulated Sugar and Vanilla Extract until the sugar dissolves.

Add the Egg/Sugar mixture to the cooled melted chocolate mixture, whisking constantly to prevent scrambling.

Fold in the flour mixture next. (I had to switch to a spatula for this, instead of the whisk)

Whisk in stout beer.

Drop Milk & White Chocolate chips evenly on top of batter. (they will sink)

Pour into prepared baking pan.

I forgot to add the white chocolate chips, so I sprinkled them on top.

Bake 25 to 35 minutes on center rack in the oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.

Let brownies cool completely, uncovered, before cutting.

I wanted them BIG, so I only cut them into 12 pieces... As rich as they were, I should have made it at least 16 or 20.

Black & Tan

Chocolate Sauce
a Plate
a Pastry Brush
Obsidian (stout) Brownie
Malted Gelato
a Sprig of Mint

Place a small blob of Chocolate Sauce on a plate.

Use a pastry brush to "drag" the sauce across the plate.

Place a Brownie next the the chocolate sauce "smear".

Add a scoop of Malted Gelato, next to that.

And a nice little mint leaf for garnish....

There you have it... A Black and Tan

Mangia!!
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Blonde and Beautiful - Blondies vs Brownies

I realize that "nothin says lovin" like Brownies fresh from the oven, but but lets give the Blondie it's due. I hear people refer to Butterscotch "brownies" and every time I hear it, I cringe...
A Brownie, by definition, is simply an unleavened chocolate cake batter. Any other cake batter can be done this way, that does not make it a Brownie.... Chocolate Deficiency = Not a Brownie....

In the case of the gooey unleavened butterscotch cake batter, this is properly referred to as a "Blondie", mainly because it lacks the chocolate, which WOULD make it a Brownie. Blondies are delightfully buttery due to this lack of chocolate letting the other ingredients shine through.

In all honesty, I think the reason the whole "brownie" thing bugs me so much is that I actually prefer Blondies to Brownies. That rich buttery molasses covered nut flavor is phenomenal... Yes, most Blondies contain nuts or some sort, I usually use Pecans, since butter, brown sugar and pecan just seem to go together. Think Pralines, as in "PRAY-lean"; not "praw-le-NAY", which is a similar idea, but made with hazelnuts and usually ground into a fine powder to be added to chocolate (That is another post)

I went ahead and made both tonight which is why this came up. I was making brownies for work for the IS/IT team when I remembered there are about 5 people in the department that don't like chocolate... Since the last thing I took to work was the Chocolate Guinness Cake, I figured I had better bring something NON-Chocolate before I got lynched.

Brownie vs. Blondie

First The Brownie

12 oz Bitter Sweet Chocolate – 60 – 65%
1 1/2 cups Unsalted Butter
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
A Pinch of Salt
6 Large Eggs
1 1/2 cups Granulated sugar
1/4 cup Light Brown sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract -or- 1/2 Vanilla bean scraped
1 TB Strong brewed Coffee or 1 tsp Espresso Powder
1 1/2 cups Plus 2 TB AP Flour
1 cup Milk Chocolate chips (Although I prefer to use 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup semi-sweet; but I was out of White Chocolate)

Line a 13x9 pan with Parchment paper, leaving an overhang so the brownie slap can be lifted out in 1 piece.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large sauce of sauté pan, melt Butter over low heat.
Chop your chocolate to facilitate even melting.

Add chopped Chocolate to the melting butter and stir until smooth.

Remove from heat, whisk in Cayenne and Salt, then set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, whisk eggs and sugars together with Vanilla and Strong coffee.

Once the chocolate is cooled, begin pouring in the eggs, in a steady stream, into the chocolate, stirring constantly.

This will keep the eggs from curdling; Chocolate scrambled eggs, while tasty are not what we are going for here.

Your chocolate mixture should thicken slightly once the eggs are incorporated.

Begin folding in the Flour, just until combined, lumps are OK. If you mix it too much, your brownies will be more like cake when they are finished baking.

Once the flour is folded in, add the Chocolate Chips and incorporate with a few quick strokes.
Pour into your prepared pan and, with a spatula, level out your batter making sure to get it into the corners.

Then bake in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes. (5 minutes less for a dark pan)
Brownies are not supposed to be cooked to complete done-ness or they will be dry. You will know they are done when the top becomes shiny and mottled.


OK, Now the Blondie -

3/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Dark brown Sugar
2 Large eggs
1 large Egg Yolk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/4 cups AP Flour
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
(optional) 1/4 cup Heath Toffee Chips

Line a 13x9 pan with parchment.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a sauce pan, melt butter.

Stir in the brown sugars, stirring until "Melted' and the mixture just begins to bubble (This is similar to making a Pecan pie)

Whisk eggs and yolks together with Vanilla.
Pour in the eggs in a steady stream, while whisking constantly to prevent scrambling.

In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.

Fold Flour into the egg mixture.
Fold in Pecans and toffee chips (if using)

Spread into the pan.

Bake 35-40 minutes (5 minutes less for dark pans)
Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

Lift via parchment and cut when cooled.

Delicious...
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Update 04/11/2009
Yay!!! The Blondies have been awarded the

From Spryte at Spryte's Place.